Warby Parker Retail Inc., the maker of fashionable eyeglasses and sunglasses, announced Monday the release of a convenient way for customers to try on glasses: virtually with their iPhone.

Using Warby Parker’s app, the iPhone X selfie camera and Apple Inc.’s ARKit, the company’s augmented reality development software, people can look into their phone and see how new frames might look.

The Virtual Try-On capability is available in the free Glasses by Warby Parker app and requires an iPhone X, XS, XS Max or XR in order to use the feature.

“Shopping for glasses is challenging for most people,” said Warby Parker co-founder Dave Gilbon, reported by Business Insider. “It’s one of the only products you wear on your face, and slight differences in sizing or shape can have a dramatic effect on whether a frame fits well or not.”

In order to measure the proportions and depth of a customer’s face properly, the Virtual Try-On uses Apple’s TrueDepth camera technology.

The TrueDepth camera uses Apple’s Face ID capability, which uses infrared light to cast over 30,000 tiny dots over the face of the users and map its unique contours. Face ID is most commonly known for its use as a biometric “your face is your password” feature, but it can also create a high-fidelity model.

With this camera function, the iPhone can gauge the dimensions of a face and as closely a possible place the augmented spectacles so that they appear as they would in real life.

The company described the software as possessing an algorithm that mimics the real-life process of placing glasses on the face and how they would sit based on unique facial features visible to the iPhone camera.

Once a customer finds a frame that looks good on their face, they can purchase it with a click directly from the app and get it with the color and options chosen.

Augmented reality mobile applications raised $725 million in 2016, according to Statista, and is estimated to reach $15.5 billion in 2022.

As a technology, AR enables a wide variety of capabilities using mobile device cameras to “add” things to the world that would otherwise be unseen. Aside from being used to sell glasses by Warby Parker, AR tech has also been put to use for selling cars by automotive maker BMW Group and home furnishings by online retail giant Amazon.com Inc.

Warby Parker is not the first glasses maker to make use of a virtual dressing room. Examples include JCPenney, Glasses.com, Lenscrafters and others. But it’s the first to make use of such cutting-edge AR technology to make it happen.

“Virtual Try-On really changes the way you can shop for glasses — especially for customers who don’t live close to a store — and it’s inherently enjoyable to use,” added Gilbon.

The Glasses by Warby Parker iOS app can be downloaded from the company’s website or Apple’s App Store for free.

Photo: Warby Parker